Should parents be notified about a minor's abortion?

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker announced March 31, 2014, that she plans to take “senior” status effective June 30, 2014, meaning she will carry about 80 percent of a normal caseload.(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)Buy Photo

After nearly two hours of vigorous questioning, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker on Tuesday said she would decide soon whether to block a new Indiana law that would allow parents to be notified about their child's abortion, even if a judge has waived parental consent.

The parental notice law, signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb in April, is the latest Indiana abortion statute to be challenged by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Indiana.

The ACLU and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky argue that the law will have a chilling effect on mature teenagers who will not want to seek a waiver of consent from a judge due to fear of parents being notified.

The state maintains that the law will help parents offer counsel and aid through the process, even though the notification does not give parents the power to overrule the waiver from a judge.

Attorneys from the state and the ACLU launched arguments and fielded questions from Barker. She noted she has until July 1 when the law goes into effect to decide whether to instate a preliminary injunction that would halt the statute until it can be fully litigated.

"Young women who insist on their parents not finding out," said Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU. "That could be a determining factor."

Falk said the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have evidence that parents have stepped forward to try to block abortions when notified. He also argued that there is no evidence that the psychological well-being of minors would be helped by this statute.

But Tom Fisher, Indiana solicitor general, argued the statute is meant to give parents the right and ability to parent their child through a potentially life-altering decision.

"The parents still have an interest in the upbringing of that child," Fisher said. "The concern is that if the child has an abortion, and the parents are completely oblivious, it inhibits their ability to be parents."

Barker asked Fisher whether he thinks the law will deter some minors who don't want their parents to know they are seeking an abortion. "It's a hoop they have to go through," she said.

"The state can regulate abortion access for minors more stringently than it would for adults," Fisher replied.

The ACLU is also contesting a provision of the statute that says in cases where parents do consent to an abortion, physicians must obtain identification and execute an affidavit for proof of parentage.

Calling the provision "hopelessly vague," the ACLU argues that it could set up doctors for criminal or civil liability for performing abortions.

Barker questioned the attorneys about how parents may prove their parentage in situations where a birth certificate is not available, such as for foreign-born parents or children. She noted that the law does not spell out what recourse a doctor would have in such cases.

"The safe thing to do is to say it's not sufficient," Fisher said, adding that a court order bestowing parental rights would also work. "If you don't have that, it's not going to go forward."

Federal judges in Indiana have blocked other similar restrictive abortion laws.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt blocked a state mandate that women seek an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion.